How To Deal With Negative Apartment Reviews
As the web continues to take over the world, young adults are increasingly looking towards the internet for advice — on everything. As Aziz Ansari has pointed out in a funny comedy bit, many are looking towards online reviews before they make even the smallest of decisions, such as which toothbrush to buy!
That being said, there is no doubt that people are more and more frequently looking towards online reviews in order to make the bigger decisions, as well — such as where they are going to be living and which apartment complex they are going to be renting from. Those are huge decisions! If the property that you manage has some negative reviews going on online, this can feel like a shot to the chest.
However, getting negative reviews does not mean that you are done for! Check out the following couple of tips for effectively dealing with those unfortunate negative reviews.
First things first: do your absolute best to truly understand the issue
Is this something that multiple residents have issued complaints about? Is there legitimate reasoning behind this person’s complaint? Figure out what exactly the meaning behind the issue is so that you can address it appropriately (there’s more on that in the next point!), and so that you can do something about it in the future.
Negative reviews can actually be considered an opportunity for your business to grow and improve — and you should not ever let that kind of opportunity go to waste. Make something good out of a negative situation!
Provide a response that is polite, professional, and prompt
After doing your absolute best to truly understand the issue, you will then have the grounds to address the issue head-on and productively. Not responding to a legitimate complaint or responding, but in an immature and upset way, is just going to make things worse — for everybody involved. It is always very impressive to customers when companies show their maturity and insight by responding to a negative customer in a way that is helpful and positive.
Before doing anything else, apologize to the reviewer. Then, you can see if there is anything that can be done in order to mend the situation. Also, be sure that you respond to the review as soon as humanly possible (but still, be sure that you have taken the necessary time to consider exactly what it is that you would like to say in response). Don’t respond weeks or months later — don’t respond even more than a couple of days later. People are getting more and more impatient, and responding within a couple of hours will be very impressive to an otherwise angry and unhappy customer.
Make sure that all of the company employees are aware of the bad reviews
While it is never fun to be the bearer of bad news, it is of the utmost importance for everybody in your company to be on the same page when it comes to those not-so-good reviews. This way, everybody is aware of the issues and everybody can work together to help both resolve them in the present and avoid them in the future. The website PracticalEcommerce suggests that doing so will “not only … help to ensure you prevent similar problems in the future, it builds a customer-centric mindset among employees.”
Keep a keen eye on your overall online presence
Lastly, the phrase “what you do not know will not kill you” simply does not apply to customer reviews — especially those of apartments. By keeping an eye on your overall online presence, you will be able to address concerns more easily. Additionally, the benefits of having a rich online presence are many. Online reputation damage can be killer (take, for instance, the fact that Aon’s Global 2015 Risk Management Risk Ranking determined that there’s an 80 percent chance that your company will lose value within five years due to having a poor reputation online). Keeping track of and keeping care of your overall online presence will help you have more control over this and help you stay afloat in the world of college apartments.
In conclusion, negative reviews can be turned into a positive opportunity for your property — if only you play your cards right. (It was Oscar Wilde who said, “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars,” and that quote can most certainly be applied in this scenario.) By simply doing your absolute best to truly understand the issue, providing a response that is polite, professional, and prompt, making sure that all of the company employees are aware of the bad reviews, and keeping a keen eye on your overall online presence, you can effectively deal with negative reviews of the property that you manage.